We
had already written about the evil effects of vanaspati ghee. Sir
S. S. Sokhey, Director of the Haffkine Institute, Bombay, states that
experiments con­ducted in the Haffkine Institute on the nutritive values
of hydrogenated oil show that -
1) the consumption of hydrogenated oils resulted in inferior growth;
2) their consumption interfered with the absorption of calcium in the body; and
3) their consumption resulted in a change in the fat composition of the body.
Recently, in the Council of State, Dr. Rajendraprasad stated that the
Research Institute at Izzatnagar had reported that the use of
vanaspati was bad for health and affected the eyesight. Experiments
conducted on rats show that the third generation of them become blind.
In the light of these scientific experiments one would have thought that
any Government with the welfare of the people in their mind would have
banned vanaspati out of the country and locked up the
vanaspati manufacturers as anti-social beings. But India is tolerant
even to the extent of hugging its evil-doers.
We understand that the Government is contemplating provision for the
detection of adulteration of ghee with vanaspati by adding 5 per
cent basic oil and colouring it. We fear that this will be absolutely of
no use. Vanaspati is generally made of ground-nut oil or
cotton-seed oil. The addition of these oils in a small proportion will
be of no avail for detection. Scientists are of opinion that at least 10
per cent of sesame oil (til oil) is the least amount that can be
effective, and no other oils would be useful. Besides the colouring can
be removed at a very small cost. One wonders why there should be the
need for all this circumventing of the issue.
It is clear that the expenditures incurred by these manu­facturers are of
no avail to the nation as a whole. They add nothing to the existing fat
of the country. If anything, they decrease their assimilability by
hydrogenation and to the extent they are destructive of the fat stock of
the land. The fresh oils that are produced at comparatively low rates
are acquired by these factories and at a cost which is often double the
original cost; they destroy the natural food values and make the nation
subject to various defi­ciency diseases, and for this disservice the
nation has to pay in the utilization of its man-power, capital and human
effort. We are amazed at our action when we sit down calmly and think
over the pros and cons in regard to this question.
In so far as adulteration of dairy ghee is the main objective of this
industry it is a direct hit on the dairy industry. In a country which is
largely vegetarian, reduc­tion of ghee consumption, however caused, will
under­mine the health of the people. The argument that Western nations
use margarine will not hold in our country. Margarine is used like
butter over slices of bread and in a temperate climate the hydrogenation
needs to be carried out to a very little extent. In our country such a
treatment will still leave the product in a liquid state. Besides
Europeans obtain animals fats from various other sources as they are
meat eaters and their cooking is done mainly with lard (animal fat). Hence, any comparison with other
countries is fallacious.
India's is a cow-centred economy. We need cows for the plough, for
transport, for carriage and for yielding milk. Hence, any measure that
adversely affects the main­tenance of the cow will also adversely affect
our national economy. A correct view of the affairs in the proper
perspective would make vanaspati production equivalent to cow
slaughter, and we hope at least those who venerate the cow will look at
this aspect of the question conscien­tiously and refrain from an
industry which is based on pure avarice, ignoring all considerations of
national welfare.
From the economic point of view the vanaspati mills in so far as
they enter the market for vegetable oils tend to put up the prices of
ordinary oils. So the poorer consumers of vegetable oil have to pay a
higher price for the only source of fat that is available to them. The
well-to-do classes who use this hydrogenated oil pay a still higher
price for materials which may prove even harmful to them and perhaps
obtaining nothing in return even by way of fat if the digestibility is
impaired by hydrogenation. Apart from the raising of the price of oils
even under controlled rates, because of the advent of capitalists in the
market, the tendency is towards black-marketing, which again has an
injurious effect on the budget of the poorer consumers.
We are amazed at the recommendation of the Advisory Planning Board which
has suggested the raising of the target of production of this article
from 82,000 tons in 1941 to 400,000 in 1950. Are we thinking of
industries as a means of making wealth for a few, or should our
industries be the means of supplying the needed articles to satisfy
human needs? Are there no moral considerations to guide us in this
matter? Is our industrial policy to be devoid of all humanity? If so, we
are heading for the jungle. We trust that no time will be lost in
calling a halt as far as this industry is concerned.